Loving the PoorSample

Invite the Poor 

Jesus wants us to be His followers in ministering to the poor. In the book of Luke, chapter 14, we read about Jesus going to eat at the house of one of the leading Pharisees. Pharisees were known to be religious leaders, but this Pharisee was part of the Sanhedrin—the ruling council. Everybody was watching Jesus closely. He saw a man right before Him whose joints were swollen. So, what did Jesus do? He asked if it was ok to heal someone on the Sabbath. Since no one answered, He healed the man. Jesus then asked if a child were to go down a well, wouldn’t everyone rush to pull the child out? Everyone was stumped and did not say a word. 

Jesus then told a parable. He noticed how the Pharisees chose the best places for themselves. He told them, “When you are invited to a feast, don’t sit in the best place. Someone more important may have been invited. Then the one who invited you will come and say, ‘Give your place to this other guest!’ You will be embarrassed and will have to sit in the worst place.” 

Jesus knew everyone was looking for the most important seat. In that specific culture, the most important seat was the center seat on the couch. In our culture, the most important seat is at the recliner with the remote control, right? Yet even today, if you have people over at your house and need to pull up chairs to have everyone fit in your living room, usually the host has to say, “Somebody sit on the couch.” Because everybody wants to sit on the fringes. The seat that the Pharisees desired and fought for is one that in our culture no one wants to take.

Jesus began to teach on humility. He told the people to take the worst seat, not the best. He continued by saying, “When you give a dinner, don’t invite your friends and family and relatives. If you do, they will invite you in return, and you will be paid back. When you give a feast, invite the poor, the paralyzed, the lame, and the blind.” 

Does this mean you can’t have a Christmas dinner anymore without inviting your loved ones? Absolutely not. That is not what Jesus is saying. He is telling us to not be a part of something only to try and get something back. 

Jesus wants to break something in you. He wants to break the “What’s in it for me?” mindset. All of us can have that mentality. If I scratch your back, you will scratch mine. If I do this, you will do that. President John F. Kennedy once said, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can for your country.” We unknowingly seek reciprocal relationships, and Jesus wants to break that mindset. He wants us to give and bless others without expecting anything in return.